Knight Arts Challenge Awards $2.5 Million to Miami Arts Projects

December 9, 2017

The has announced grants totaling $2.5 million to forty-three projects in South Florida through the .

Now in its tenth year, the challenge funds the best ideas for bringing South Florida together through the arts. As in past years, grants were awarded to arts organizations and individual artists in support of projects that will help make art seen, felt, and heard throughout Miami's many diverse neighborhoods.

Recipients of grants awarded through this year's competition include , which will receive $80,000 for a project in which young artists from the Liberty City neighborhood study the remains of a "segregation wall" on Northwest 12th Avenue and create public art projects for the site; the , which was awarded $150,000 to expand its support for female-identifying filmmakers through its NoBroZone grant program; , which will receive $150,000 to offer professional opportunities at Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami and establish a home at the ; and the , which was awarded $100,000 to partner with Florida International University and the Miami Jazz and Film Society on a film and discussion series.

The foundation also recently named twenty-five arts and civic leaders as , honoring them for their vision, courage, and tenacity in building Miami's cultural community. The leaders, each of whom were given $10,000 to contribute to an artist or arts organization of their choice, include painter José Bedia, author Edwidge Danticat, and Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Gimenez.

"The Tenth Anniversary Knight Arts Challenge winners celebrate life and arts in Miami," said Knight Foundation president Alberto Ibargüen. "They embody what the arts do: they inspire and create common experiences that connect us to each other and to home, Miami."